


The First Steps

by masterrevan51



Series: Pokemon Heights and Depths [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: A story of a region never seen before, Gen, Nonbinary Character, This is the first of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25794529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterrevan51/pseuds/masterrevan51
Summary: Every journey starts small. While Riley is setting out to become a trainer, they have no idea how their journey will go, or how high they will rise. If they get there on time, that is.
Series: Pokemon Heights and Depths [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871272
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to a new series: Pokemon Heights and Depths. This is something my friends and I made, and it's my first big project. So, I hope you like it.

“Riley! It’s time to wake up!” 

Jerking upright, Riley looked around. Oh, yeah. They were in their room. Slowly, they rubbed their eyes before getting up. They walked into the bathroom and washed their face. 

“Riley? Are you awake?” 

They turned from the sink, and called down the stairs, “Yeah! I’ll be down in a minute, mom!” 

They dressed quickly, before descending the stairs, where they saw their mother. 

“It’s about time you were up,” she chided. “You’re 12 years old now, and you’ll be leaving soon, you can’t keep going to bed at these ridiculous hours on the road.” 

Riley blushed, before sitting down for breakfast. “I’ll be fine, mom! I promise.” 

She sighed. “You say that, and I keep worrying. Now I want to see your starter before you leave town, alright?” 

Riley nodded. “Yes mom.”

* * *

After breakfast, they grabbed their bag from where it sat by their desk. Turning to leave, they spun back around and grabbed their violet fez, carefully setting it on their head, before walking downstairs. 

Their mother sighed as they came down. “Dear, couldn’t you at least wear a hat that protects your face?” 

Riley grabbed at the fez. “I can’t leave without my lucky hat, mom! You know that!” 

She shook her head, before accepting that. “Well, you’d best get going. Even if Professor Evergreen is used to your habits by now, that doesn’t mean you should keep them.” 

Riley laughed nervously, before opening the door and exiting, closing it behind them.

Ortus Town was at the southeastern end of Gaylisse, with gentle rolling hills, and clear skies most days. As they walked down the cobbled path towards the main road, they saw two people waiting right next to the road. “Hey!” 

The girl turned, and Cora scowled when she saw them. “Don’t ‘hey’, us. You’re late!” 

Riley stopped a bit short before catching up with them. “Well… maybe. But I’m here now!” 

“No ‘maybe’, Riley” Cora responded. “We’ve been waiting for 30 minutes!” 

They blinked. “Was it really that long?”

Theodore turned as the two looked at him for confirmation either way. “Ah, well… it was a bit of a wait, but you’re here now, so everything’s fine.” He gave a wide grin, the way he usually did when he had to settle this argument. 

“Well, at least we won’t have to keep waiting on you while we’re traveling,” Cora grumbled, leading the way down the road to Professor Evergreen’s lab. 

Riley looked at Cora as they walked along. As the tallest and most aggressive of the three of them, Cora tended to take charge… unless it involved the professor’s Wooloo. Though, all of them had a tendency to run and hide when it came to that terror. Their eyes drifted towards Theodore. People had tried to stick him with the nickname “Teddy” when he was younger, but in the one occasion of him actually arguing, he’d always refused the nickname, responding to Theodore or not responding at all. All in all, they were Riley’s best friends, and for the past two years, had been their fellow assistants at the professor’s lab. The lab that they were approaching now.

* * *

Nestled in a meadow against the looming Star Woods, Professor Evergreen’s lab was a large building, painted a bright scarlet from the base to the turret and bay windows at the top. The windmills, part of an extensive renewable energy network that Gaylisse prided itself on, slowly turned in the breeze. Riley could make out the greenhouse and yard in the back, where the professor’s Eevees were probably playing by this point. 

As Cora opened the door and entered the lab, the three of them dropped their packs on the shelf by the door, before walking forward to the pegboard the professor was usually working at in the mornings. 

Professor Raven Evergreen was somewhat short, being Cora’s height, while still a bit taller than Theodore and Riley. Rather chubby in weight, her curly black hair was tucked behind her ear, showing her black-rimmed glasses as she tacked her notes onto the board. A chubby Eevee with a purple scarf tugged at her lab coat as it noticed the approaching kids. 

“Oh- what is it, Goop? Is something wrong with your food? Oh-” Professor Evergreen stopped as she saw what the Eevee was getting her attention for. “Oh, you were telling me they were here, thank you!” Bending down, she scrunched behind his ears, before giving him a pecha berry, which he took before slinking off. 

Standing up, Professor Evergreen smiled brightly. “Today’s the day! Oh, this is wonderful! This is the first time I’m handing out pokemon, and it’s to you, oh this is great! Come on.” She led the three over to a table nearby, with three Cherish Balls sitting on the top. Clicking the button on each, she gestured as they opened up. “Meet your brand new friends!” 

As light burst out of them, she pointed to each one in turn. “The Grass Lizard Pokemon, Tuabiscus!” The small pokemon had scale-like bark on it, shaking itself out as it crooned. “The Fire Slither Pokemon, Fahrasp!” The serpentine pokemon hissed, the orange-red feathers just behind its head rippling. “And the River Fur Pokemon, Damink!” The furry pokemon tottered upright, slowly peering around as it wrinkled its teal nose. 

Despite the fanfare, they had all figured out who wanted what pokemon weeks ago, in order to keep anyone from being disappointed. And so, Riley knelt down, and reached out a hand to Fahrasp. It hissed, tasting them, before slithering up their arm and onto their shoulder. They grinned, running their fingers along its back. Similarly, Cora crouched down, greeting Damink. After hesitating, it jumped into her arms in a hug that she reciprocated. Finally, Tuabiscus skittered up to Theodore as he bent down, caressing one of its eyeridges as it hummed in appreciation. 

As the three cradled their new pokemon, they all knew that this was the start of something great. None of them knew how right they were.


	2. Chapter 2

As the three of them cuddled their new partners, Professor Evergreen dug around in the desk nearby. “Where are they, I know I put them here, ah!” And she pulled out three small red devices before turning to the new trainers. “Now that you’re trainers, I have something for you- the Pokédex!”

Riley stood up with Fahrasp hissing on their shoulder, before approaching the professor, Cora and Theodore walking up to look at the devices as well. As she held them out, Riley took one and held it up. “It looks… like a watch, Professor.” 

Professor Evergreen beamed. “It was actually developed in the Sinnoh region with assistance from the Pokétch company! It also has holographic technology that projects the information into a larger form in the air. Try it out!” 

They slipped it onto their wrist before tightening it, and aiming it at Fahrasp. Abruptly, a hologram sprung up from the dex, showing an image of Fahrasp, with information in sidebars. “Whoa!” 

As Theodore and Cora adjusted their own dexes, Professor Evergreen stepped back to regard them. “Ah, I know you’ve spent the past couple of years helping me out here, and you want to get going, but. Could you record environmental data with your Pokédexes and transmit it back for my research? You don’t have to go out of your way, just scan with your dexes as you travel.” 

Theodore smiled. “That doesn’t sound too difficult. I’m sure we can do that without problem.” Cora and Riley nodded. “Yeah!” 

The professor smiled. “Thank you! I’ll stop taking up your time, then. You’ve got a journey to start, and I’ve got research to do.” With that, she returned to the pegboard she had been at prior, picking up a clipboard as she did so. 

As the three gathered their packs at the door, Cora frowned down at her dex. “Hey, what else can these do?” Riley looked over. “I don’t know, the professor didn’t say.” 

Theodore shrugged. “We can probably look it up. No need to bother the professor.” Cora turned back. “But we’re right here, and we can ask her! It’ll just take a mome-” 

“OwO? Awe you intewwupting?” At that voice, all three of them froze, before slowly turning to stare at the small Wooloo that had approached them. 

“Oh, h-hey, Wlw!” Cora said, backpedaling. “No, no, we were just leaving, right, gang?” The other two hurriedly nodded. 

“That’s good, because I wouwdn’t want something bad to happen. Aftew aww, You onwy just became twainews.” The look on the Wooloo’s face could only be described as menacing, as it slowly took a step forward. 

As one, all three turned, Riley wrenching the door open. “WE’LLSEEYOULATERBYE!” And with that, they bolted from the lab, running down the road. 

Wlw frowned before reaching up to close the door. “They’we so wude.” 

* * *

As the three of them reached the main town, they stopped running, gasping for breath. “One, bonus, to leaving,” Riley slowly spoke, “Is that, we won’t… see that, terror… again.” Theodore and Cora nodded. “I… don’t know… how a Wooloo… can be so terrifying.” Theodore gasped out. Slowly, he straightened up, and stretched his back as all of them got their breath back. “We should probably go talk to our folks and show them our new pokémon.” 

Riley turned back to walk home. “Good point. I guess I’ll see you two around on our travels.” Cora rose from where she was kneeling. “Not so fast, hat kid! Before we part, I wanna battle! Our partners don’t know elemental moves yet, so it’s even!” 

Riley chewed on their lip for a moment, before nodding. “Okay. But let’s make it quick, I wanna show mom and get on the road today.” “You got it!” 

The three of them moved to a spot away from the main road, before Riley and Cora split to about 20 feet from each other. In the future, as their pokémon grew, they would have to be farther apart, but they would be alright as they were for now. Theodore stood slightly back but between them. “Uh, I’ll referee this, I guess. When you’re ready, send them out. The battle will end when a pokémon faints or one of you yields.” 

Both trainers nodded, before pulling out the balls. “Let’s go, Damink!” “We can do this, Fahrasp!” Both pokémon materialized in bursts of light, the two of them quickly realizing what was going on, Damink crouching with his claws while Fahrasp reared back, her feathers standing up. Out of the corner of their eye, Riley noticed that Theodore had released Tuabiscus, and was holding him in his arms while watching the battle. 

“Let’s get this started! Damink, Leer into Scratch!” The furred water type surged forward, throwing a look at Fahrasp that caused her to flinch back, before slashing out with his claws. 

“Fahrasp, meet in the middle with Pound, then use Growl!” Riley’s belated order led Fahrasp to lunge from her position, swinging her tail to try and counter Damink’s charge. The two strikes clashed as Damink’s claws cut into Fahrasp, while her tail struck him directly on the nose. As both reeled, Fahrasp managed to respond by releasing a growl into Damink’s face, making him shrink back slightly. 

“Go for it again, Damink! Scratch, and don’t let up!” Cora’s command had her partner leaping back towards Fahrasp, while Riley scrambled to respond. “Dodge it, Fahrasp! Use Pound if you see an opening!” The two pokémon clashed, with Fahrasp undulating, using her serpentine body to her advantage in avoiding attacks, while Damink’s continual assault didn’t let up. 

Finally, Riley saw that the attacks were taking a toll on their partner, and slowly, held up their hand. “Wait! Stop, I yield! Stop fighting, Fahrasp!” 

Seeing the battle over, Cora called Damink back as both regarded their pokémon. Fahrasp was clearly injured from the attacks, but in ways that would easily be recoverable. Damink was breathing heavily, unused to exerting himself in battle. Finally, Cora grinned, and lifted her partner up, spinning him around. “Woohoo! We won our first battle!” 

On the other side, Riley slowly picked Fahrasp up, pulling an oran berry out of their bag and feeding it to her. “It’s okay. We’ll do better next time.” Despite their words, their shoulders still sagged with disappointment. As they cradled their partner, Cora walked over while scratching Damink’s ears. “Hey, we’re chill, right, Riley? I mean, Damink starts with better physical attack, so I guess I kind of had an advantage.” 

Riley stood up, shaking their disappointment off with some effort. “Yeah, we’re chill. I just feel kind of down about losing our first battle.” 

Cora nodded. “I would’ve felt the same if we’d lost. Eh, we’re just starting, anyway. The _real_ battle will start when we have more mons and some actual badges.” Riley couldn’t help but grin. “It’ll be a different outcome then, I promise you that!” 

Walking up, Theodore smiled at them. “Well, I think you all did great! And I guess I’m looking forward to seeing you battle again!” 

Cora grinned before pulling him into a headlock. “Maybe I’ll fight you, next time, short fry!” Theodore desperately wiggled to try and pull out. “No, I don’t like fighting, Cora! You know that!” Finally, she released him. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I expect to see you on tv winning your contests, though, got it?” 

“Okay, okay,” he acquiesced, blushing as they all recalled their partners. Riley couldn’t help but grin. It was good to know that some things stayed the same, throughout the years they’d known each other. At that thought, they looked at the road out of town, before turning to their friends. “Hey, guys? We’ll still be friends, even if we travel separately, right?” 

Both Theodore and Cora blinked at them, before Theodore nodded. “Of course! We’ve always been friends, that’s not going to change now!” Cora leapt forward, dragging both of them into a hug. “We’re gonna be friends for the rest of our lives, and nothing’s gonna change that!” 

Finally, the three of them separated, and each went home to show their family their new pokémon. 

* * *

“Well, isn’t she just adorable!” Their mom cooed as she stroked Fahrasp’s back. The fire type crooned in response, relaxing under the touch. “Does she have a name?” 

Riley blinked. “I, uh, I don’t know. I haven’t thought of one.” 

Their mom nodded before straightening up. “Well, you don’t have to, and you shouldn’t feel rushed to name her, but think about it. She might like one.” 

Riley acknowledged the advice as they picked Fahrasp up, before she coiled around their shoulders. “Thanks, mom. I’m going to head out, now. I want to get going before it’s too late!” With that, they began to head towards the door. 

“Not so fast!” Quickly, their mother pulled them into a hug, holding them tightly before letting go. “I’m going to miss you. Call whenever you reach a new town, okay? Even if you’re not alone, I still worry.” Riley nodded as they hugged their mother back. “Okay, mom. Bye!” 

And with that, they left home, quickly walking out of town in order to head to the first place on the road to the Pokémon League: Akuo Town, site of the first gym. Before long, they stood at the entrance to the major obstacle to their journey. The Star Woods loomed high and deep, and Riley took a deep breath before entering.


End file.
